


Murphy

by anjocientifico



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Murphy's Law, Original Character(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-03-09 08:56:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18913699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anjocientifico/pseuds/anjocientifico
Summary: "If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy's Law





	1. Chapter 1

The result of the last exams was still in her hands when Max Graham sat in the waiting room of the neurology sector of the Maynard Center.

She had known those corridors, well since, she had spent her last months there, between exams, until the day she heard from the doctor that she had a tumor in her brain.

The hospital corridors had also taken her to her husband in a coma since the day she thought she would die of convulsion. She distracted herself by thinking, "Murphy didn’t miss."

A touch at the head brought her hands to her forehead. She re-echoed the result of the resonance: "Very visible tumor mass."

What she wanted to tell the doctor was that all the pain she carried was a consequence of the various time travels that had messed up not only her mind, but her cells.

She imagined the doctor's reaction, that he would glance over his glasses, patronizing, would prescribe stronger medicines or refer her to the psychiatrist. She thought again, "Murphy was right."

Warren lived in a deep coma a few weeks ago. A truck crashed into his car as he tried to calm May on the phone, shouting, "Mommy's dying!" Max convulsed on the kitchen floor, struggling in the desperate hands of her daughters April and May. May called his father, who knew something serious about his daughter's affliction. He didn’t notice that the signal had closed and was hit by the truck that was following at high speed through the intersection. He just said, "Take it easy, I'm on my way." Since then he has not spoken.

If Max doubted or anything could go wrong, it would have been wrong, brain cancer, a comatose husband, and a guilty 10-year-old daughter finally made her believe Murphy.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the doctor called.


	2. Chapter 2

The day he suffered the accident was such a normal day for Warren Graham that he couldn’t remember it if the possibility of death hadn’t been drawn that way.

He woke up that Sunday at 8 am and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds and from the third second, the fixed idea of the project took it all in. He knew exactly what to do on that Sunday: go to the lab, review the experiments for the last time, which after six months of research finally formed into a coherent whole.

That filled him completely. He didn’t realize that Max had already gotten up, didn’t realize that there were new flowers in the bathroom, and he also didn’t notice that Max had changed the picture of the bedside table. Life was nothing but the laboratory.

"Murphy!" He thought. His face took on a decided air,  picked up the phone and phoned Murphy Lewton, who opened the lab on that sunny Sunday.

"Hello..." Murphy answered the phone lazily.

"Murphy! It's Warren, on your way to the lab?"

"What? Laboratory?" He asked sleepily.

"Yes!" Warren said, impatiently.

"Today is the day we go to the lab to close the survey, don’t you remember?"

"Oh, yes, I know we're in the finals... but the lab will not leave the place... From today to tomorrow there will be no differences as to the results"

"Of course not!" Warren interrupted. "We agreed we would do it!"

"I know... but we've been through this research for the past six months, we can wait another day. Why don’t you stay with your family today and see this tomorrow?"

Extremely outraged, Warren's face was red and he tried to speak very calmly:

"Murphy, if you don’t go to the lab, I'll file a formal complaint to the institute's board and you'll hardly be called in for the assistance of another scientist. I'm on my way to the lab and I want to meet you there."

Murphy took a deep breath and knew Warren so well, he knew he wouldn’t win the argument. He resigned himself and said, "I'll be there."

Murphy hung up the phone and woke up the beautiful, unknown girl he had spent the night with. Gently, he told her, "Honey, I have work."

He then arrived at the lab but did not find Warren. Nor would he find him conscious from there.

Warren came out of the room still getting ready, picking up the bread from the kitchen table.

Max turned around and smiled. Warren didn’t see the smile as he didn’t see April and May on the couch.

"It's a big day, isn’t? The closing of experiments by what I understood," said Max.

"Yes, yes…" said Warren, searching for the butter.

"I didn’t have a good night, the pain was stronger and…" she said.

The bread fell to the floor as Warren searched for the coffee and it deeply irritated him. He wishes that on such an important day he wouldn’t be hampered by trivial things from day to day. Max noticed the irritation and indifference and fell silent.

She knew Warren well and loved him forever. She knew it was important to her husband's career and he was completely devoted. This characteristic of Warren has always charmed her. He was determined at work and serious about it, but he never ceased to be the silly, smiling boy with whom he married. Everything was in its place about it. What worried her were her headaches that only increased.

"You need to see a doctor," Warren said. "We talk later."

He kissed her cheek. The woman looked at him longer. It was a short moment but it was Max's look that came to mind when May called his phone 13 minutes later.

May's voice cut into his heart like a sharp knife. Her scream was so desperate that Warren was completely speechless and shocked.

Before he understood what she was saying, Warren had a thought that struck him with lightning.

"Murphy was right!" That thought scared him because only something very important would cause Murphy's advice to be right "Why don’t you stay with your family today?" But as soon as May started the call he knew he was in the wrong place.

"Mommy's dying!"

It was then that Max's gaze flooded him and he understood that the gesture in the kitchen could be a farewell.

He wouldn’t remember what happened to him from there. His car was hit by a truck, leaving him twisted like a lump of modeling clay. He was rescued by firefighters and taken to the same hospital to which Max had been taken, after a neighbor called the ambulance. Each in his unconsciousness, they got into stretchers by the same hospital that would be the home of Warren from there.

In urgent care, keeping him alive was the priority of doctors who realized that the patient's left arm was so devastated that it should be amputated. The nurse withdrew the alliance from his finger that would no longer be Warren's and immediately she thought that somewhere there was a wife waiting for news. "Max" read inside the ring. She just did not know that the wife was three aisles from there, unconscious and struggling to survive.


	3. Chapter 3

Kate looks at the picture frame on the dresser in the living room and distracted herself by remembering the day of the wedding between Warren and Max. Max was incredibly beautiful and smiled so softly that Kate felt the calm perspiration. As for Warren, his happiness could be perceived by anyone. His smile was so wide and alive it was impossible for Kate to review the picture without smiling as well. It was true that joy is contagious and Warren was the proof.

They had been friends for years, and Kate could see no possibility of being different. In a larger picture frame is the family photo, reunited and happy for some reason Kate could not explain - her parents Richard and Linda, surrounded by Kate, Lynn and Tara (the three graces as Richard said).

Her hands slid to a blurred photograph that showed her and her ex-boyfriend, Michael. Her expression changed before the image. She put her right hand to her face and smoothed her cheek, as if she still felt the pain of a slap. Her eyes watered and she took a deep breath. There were so many marks that she carried as a consequence of that relationship she could touch in her entire body, remembering every aggression. Her heart quickened as she felt her own wrists feeling her skin healed. They were the marks of your limit.

That Sunday she had woken up feeling homesick for friends and family. As for Michael, she felt a deep regret that they could have been happy, as happy as Max and Warren in that photograph. She closed her eyes and felt her face warm. Michael still trapped her as a victim.

Her phone rang and a social worker at the Maynard Center hospital spoke on the other side.

She heard, astonished, that Max had been hospitalized after a seizure, was being stabilized, but April and May needed help from a relative at this time

“Clear!” Kate answered. “Have you ever gotten in touch with Warren the husband?”

It was then that Kate knew incredulously that Warren was in the same hospital, undergoing surgery, after a car accident.

“How is this possible?”

No one knew the details, but when they searched for Warren's data to contact him and inform him of Max's accident, they found his record in the emergency room.

“It may be difficult to understand now, but April and May are alone now in the hospital and we don’t know yet whether they will leave here with their parents,” said the social worker.

Kate took only her purse and left the house, trying to gather the information she had just received. "As happy as Max and Warren," the phrase repeated mentally. It was as if the world was showing her that even happy couples go through their tragedies.

Kate crossed the main waiting room and found April and May

“It'll be all right,” Kate said, not believing her own words.

She looked around the room as she held the girls in her arms. The social worker approached and summarized the situation.

“Max is stable and being attended by the neurological team. The most serious situation is of Warren, he is in surgery now, the doctors have amputated his arm and are trying to reverse the picture.”

As the assistant spoke, Murphy Lewton crossed the room toward the girls. He had called Warren because of his late arrival at the lab, and a nurse explain the situation to him. Murphy introduced herself to Kate and hugged the girls:

"Hey, hey... Don’t be like this…”

He sat with them in the chairs.

“You two are too special to be so sad. Not everyone has your eyes, doesn’t?”

He looked into the girls' eyes, admiring the miracle of heterochromia; April and May had one eye of each color.

April asked in a tearful voice:

“Murphy, do you think they'll be all right?”

“I'm sure your father will be fine,” Murphy said.


	4. Chapter 4

“Max, the results are conclusive about your condition. I'd rather speak frankly with you. I prefer it, and I should act like this with you. We can start a palliative treatment for the maintenance of pain, which must increase, but we can’t operate it without destroying healthy brain tissue. Too risky and we could hardly succeed”, Dr. Dale Rivers spoke calmly as he looked into Max's eyes. He was gentle and had an air only the affectionate grandfathers have. He spoke fondly that she was going to die and there was no way but to remedy the pain.

"Max, you have to get organized," the doctor continued. "We don’t know how much time you have, and there's no sign that Warren will wake up anytime soon. I know you have two daughters. You need to care about who will be able to assist you. This will make you spend the next few days less distressed.”

Max wanted to hug him. She has made important decisions in the past. Now she had just a little. She felt lighter.

Max left the office and visited Warren. She entered the room to which he had been transferred. Although stable, it wasn’t possible to predict a change in its picture. Max pulled the chair closer to Warren.

“Look at the two of us... We couldn’t know that we would live something more amazing than Arcadia Bay. But here we are, mother and father, husband and wife, living a life so strange and on the verge of death”, she stood up and kissed Warren's face, gently touching his amputated arm.

“I'll arrange everything. The girls will be fine and will be here when you wake up. Wake up soon, my love... life has to go on and I keep choosing you.”

The treatment that followed was as the doctor had explained. "Max, you need to get organized," she repeated the doctor's words. She wouldn’t live long and the girls would need to be looked after by someone, there was no time to mourn. Her family had been thrown into a hurricane ruled by Murphy's law.

"But you're already leaving," she said to herself in the waiting room with her imaginary Edward Murphy.

She still had fun. Now she was joking even in physics, Warren would have laughed at this boldness.

She felt strong. She knew she would fade and would have difficult days, but now she could see clearly.

Determined, she called Kate and asked her to come to her house.

She set the table for Kate and they sat down together.

"My request is gigantic," said Max, her eyes very vivid, as if there were no illness at all. "But you can’t deny it."

Kate interrupted Max.

"I've been praying for you. I'm sure everything will be alright...

"Kate, I have months to live.” Max said calmly, touching Kate's hands “and I need you to take care of the girls...

"Don’t talk like that, you're not going to die..."

“I'll. I have no doubt about that and I ask you to take care of my family. That you make my family yours. I know about everything you've gone through with Michael and about everything you've endured.

"You don’t have to continue, Max," Kate interrupted. "You know you can count on me and I'll be here."

Max's expression was a relief.

"I wouldn’t ask anyone else," Max said. An image of Chloe flashed at her. Kate wasn’t the only person in the world that Max would ask, but the only one who could help her.

"I know, Max. We know each other better than anyone. I bring my wounds and my marks - Michael is one of them - but they’re infinitely smaller now. I know you need me and I'll be here. If you feel better I can move here and take care of the children.

Kate's move to Max's house took place the next day and she was so comfortable that they all seemed to have been around this way for a long time.

April and May liked Kate's company and talked to her.

When they were alone, April and May shared their anguish, almost looking like they weren’t ten; because the last events had made the two mature so quickly

"I still feel guilty about calling Daddy.” said May.

"You called Daddy to save Mommy. I couldn’t react, but you tried to help. It wasn’t your fault.” said April

"I didn’t mean to hurt them," said May

“Of course not! Everyone knows this, if you hadn’t called, the neighbor couldn’t know that something was wrong and wouldn’t help. You saved Mama.”

They hugged each other, comforting each other. They were closer than ever.

The conversations with the girls were always very difficult when it came to the fate of Max and Warren. April and May's questions left Max with a broken heart, but she knew it was necessary.

Initially, the questions weren’t asked clearly and the subject of death wasn’t always mentioned.

"Hospitals heal people, don’t they? Does that mean that Mom and Dad will be fine? "

"What is inoperable cancer?"

"When does Daddy wake up?"

"Why is Mommy doing so bad?"

They had difficulty sleeping at night and woke up crying several times.

"I dreamed you died", said April.

Max knew it was necessary for the girls to know that she wouldn’t be there soon enough. They were saying good-bye and Max started to say, before the instructions

"When Mom is not here..."

Max held them in her lap when they both wept, lovingly but still telling them they needed to be strong.

Those were difficult days but not without joy. Kate participated in those moments and felt herself part of the family. She also made visits to Warren along with Max and the girls. They talked to him and sang to him.

"I can’t wait for you to wake up, Dad.”

Murphy also visited Warren in the hospital, often. At first, it was difficult to talk to Warren in a coma, but after a few meetings, he could talk for hours if they let him.

“The project was a success, I finished with Jean Baptist, from laboratory 3. You would like to see the reception of the project; the French researchers were very interested... they asked for you, everyone always asks... it's horrible what's happening to Max..." Murphy says in a choked voice.

"But you're going to be fine, Kate is taking care of the girls now and it's going to be all right, Max will..."

At that moment, the nurse interrupts the visit to say that the visitation is over.

“Time is up, my friend.”

He looks sadly at Warren and then walks to the waiting room.

Visits to Warren always played with Murphy. Warren was one of his only friends in life, and the only one from college. Murphy was the introvert weirdo while Warren was the kind of person who could always hear him.

In the solitude of his youth, Warren was like a spot of light and became the object of his passion for a few months. He even thought of confessing his love, but Warren was doing the relationships so well that it was enough for Murphy to understand the bonds of that friendship.

Sitting in the waiting room, Murphy thought of the youth who lived next to Warren and was grateful for her. Answer the phone:

“Hello! Yes, yes, I'm going there... Keep calm... everything is the same here. See you in half an hour.”

Max, Kate, April, and May formed a new family. The nearness of Max's death made the daily life take on an extraordinary tone. Sadness might haunt her for a moment of the day, but that was only a brief moment. Most of the time, they used each other's company. Max realized how much the girls trusted Kate. She chose to talk to Kate about a subject she hadn’t touched until now, but now they both looked ready.

She approached Kate with hospital leaflets on assisted death, Maynard Center was a pioneer in the use of euthanasia and Max fit the public who could request such service.

"I need you to know that if the pain increases, I'll have the hospital watching over my death. Dying with dignity will be the least to be done when the pain becomes unbearable.”

Kate heard Max's words and was startled by the calmness with which she was saying that she would mark a day and time to die. she noticed and tried to calm her down.

"I'll make that choice if it's the last when it's clear to me that my time has come. It makes no sense to languish in a bed suffering and making you suffer.”

She approached Kate and hugged her as she began to cry.

"I'm sorry to make you sad. I wouldn’t want to be more suffering,” said Max.

"Max, I've never been so happy. It may seem strange because you and Warren are in this situation, I've always wanted to start a family and now I'm part of one. I cry because I know that at any moment this family can shatter,” Kate said.

"When I go, the girls will stay and... Warren. Kate, be sure to take care of Warren. If he wakes up ... when he wakes up, he'll need you, he'll need a family…”

“We'll be here.” said Kate, realizing Max's distress.

"I made an appointment with the hospital psychology team tomorrow. They will make the necessary explanations about death with dignity. Would you go with me?” asked Max.

“Of course, I will not leave you alone." said Kate.

When Kate arrived in her room, she felt suffocated and wept like never before, although she tried to be strong, she felt that she would collapse at any moment. She prayed that she would stay sane because her family needed her.


	5. Chapter 5

This was a difficult night. The pain forced her to wake up. She looked and the clock showed three hours and eleven minutes. She went to the girls' room and looked at them for a moment. She approached and felt the flow of the calm breaths of April and May. They breathed in as profoundly as softly. She felt deeply relieved, though the pains were increasing every day. The girls were fine, but soon they wouldn’t be with her.

She went down the stairs and made a coffee, sat down on the couch waiting when she came across the photo album. Photo albums were irresistible ever since. After them she discovered that she would be a photographer.

She opened the album and saw the picture of her wedding and also the photo, with her old polaroid camera, of her first date with Warren in 2014. She and Warren still kept the tickets that day, where they watched "Planet of the Apes."

A few pages later, she met Chloe's eyes. They were children's eyes, full of curiosities and happiness. Chloe and she wore their pirate clothes and posed fearlessly with their swords that could dominate the world. She didn’t know at the time that Chloe wouldn’t even get out of Arcadia Bay. She tries to remember the good times when she was younger, but she could only remember the terrible choice she had to make between sacrificing her best friend's life or the whole city.

For Max, the time wasn’t like for the other people, that she had the chance that many wanted to have, the fact of going back in time gave her the opportunity to enjoy an extra week with Chloe, her beloved friend.

They both knew what destiny would be. It wouldn’t be fair to sacrifice an entire city. Max knew she couldn’t keep going back in time in an attempt to make the perfect life, she knew she had to accept the consequences and move on.

She remembered Joyce's dismay during her daughter Chloe's wake. She felt helpless to comfort her after such great losses. First her husband's accident, William and now Chloe's untimely death.

It was October 11, 2013 when she said goodbye to Chloe. Even without knowing the events of that tragic week, Kate and Warren accompanied her to the funeral, and Max was sure she could count on them forever.

The months after the wake recalled the trial of Nathan and Jefferson where they were accused of the murder of Rachel Amber and the physical abuse of dozens of other girls, she also recalled the time when the Vortex Club was shut down for investigation and when Victoria was expelled after several accusations of bullying and for sharing the intimate video of Kate.

At that time the imprisonment of Sean Prescott for corruption gave the residents and students of Blackwell Academy a sense of justice hitherto untested.

The arrest and treatment of Nathan Prescott, in an attempt to give him back a little humanity and be a better person. He was visited by his best friend and beloved Victoria Chase, his beloved sister and mother, Kristine and Caroline Prescott. She remembered Kristine living up to the name of the Prescotts, helping Blackwell students and residents, even offering a job to Stella Hill at Pan Estates and helping the Price family financially.

She admired Kate's attitude as she forgive Victoria, who expressed deep regret at what she did to Kate and others. Nathan's situation seemed to be Victoria's only concern, for she didn’t seem to care so much about the expulsion.

The nobility of Kate's attitude made Max feel more at ease when the future of her daughters, her heart was relieved to know that April and May would be created by an ethical and generous person.

Those extraordinary events marked the end of one cycle and the beginning of another...

She couldn’t suspect that 25 years later she would be going through such extraordinary events as those: Brain cancer, a husband in a coma, a daughter sunk in guilt, wondered what better days were to come.

She was interrupted by the whistle of the kettle

She drank her coffee and fell asleep right there on the couch.


	6. Chapter 6

She woke up that morning, smelling eggs and bacon from the kitchen. She remembered again the childhood she shared with Chloe when Joyce prepared breakfast for the two of them.

She heard Kate call April and May, who descended quickly and gave Max a strong and comfortable hug. Soon afterward, the girls ran and embraced Kate.

As she watched, Max thought that Kate had a way of being a mother. She was sorry about Kate in the past. Max and Kate smile at each other with deep complicity.

Kate calls them all to sit at the table. The girls go to Max to help her get up. Max with a gesture refuses their help and walks over to the table. Fours gathered around the table chatter over coffee.

”How was the night of sleep,” asks Max to the girls.

April and May began to rejoice the dream of the night before. Incredibly, they both had the same dream.

"Kate, Chloe, you and dad were in the dream," said May.

”I heard that twin sisters can share emotions, pains, and sensations.” Kate said.

Max takes advantage and asks how Kate's sisters are.

"They're fine, but the work keeps them from visiting me. But whenever they can maintain contact by phone. They ask a lot for you and Warren.”

Lynn and Tara loved Warren and had him as a big brother. They even thought Kate and Warren were dating, but in the end, they'd realize they were just best friends.

The conversation is interrupted when someone rings the bell. Kate opens it and sees Murphy downcast and tired as if he had not slept the night before. Murphy asks if he can come in.

Kate looks at Max a little worried, but lets Murphy in. Murphy goes to the table, takes a toast that slides from his hand, but he stops it from falling to the floor quickly, holding with the other hand, while saying "Hi, girls!"

”What a reflection!” said Max in surprise.

"It's one of my few good qualities,” said Murphy.

Max invites him to sit down and he looks at April and May as he sits down on the empty chair.

Kate asks why Murphy looks so tired. He tries to disguise, saying "I've just been walking, thinking, traveling, taking a tour through the city and came to stop here."

”I understand. It's always good to have some time just for you, you know? A moment of calm.” said Kate

“A moment of calm?”Murphy asks, “I seem to go through this constantly, even now, everything seems so calm.”

He gets a little sad and lowers his head. Max asks why he apologizes and smirks at Kate.

"I just really miss Warren. I don’t know if I would be here where I am if it weren’t for him. If he never existed, if I never knew him by accident. If I could, I'd trade places with him... but I can not... I can’t...”

Max feels sad and holds Murphy's hand, saying that she finds the effect that Warren made on Murphy's life incredibly, as in her and Kate's lives as well. Max speaks confidently "He will wake up."

Murphy is more relieved and takes a deep breath. His cell phone charges a new message, from the woman he had slept with on the day Warren crashed. He got up and said he needed to go. She said goodbye to Max and Kate, looked more widely into the twins-colored eyes, and left the girls.

”Murphy is weird, but he's a cool guy.” May speak.

Max thanks her for the breakfast and Kate start cleaning the table.

Max goes to the workbench and picks up her old polaroid camera. She calls the girls and Kate to take a selfie. The four of them approach and smile posing for the photo. After the flash, they’re frightened by the noise of the camera breaking on the floor. They only have time to hold Max down to the ground.

Max is rushed to the Maynard hospital for Kate. April and May go together to support Max who has completely lost consciousness. May begins to shed her eyes with tears, but refuses to shed a drop. She’s holding strong her mother's hand while April does the same. They don’t even care if Kate crossed the red light. In 9 minutes, they arrive at the hospital.

Max was hastily rescued, placed on a stretcher and taken to the same room in which she was rescued 3 months earlier.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Max was unconscious for a few minutes, but soon woke up. Kate stood in the hallway with April and May already waiting for the worst.

Kate watches the end of the hallway, next to the bedroom door where Warren remains in a coma. Kate wonders how she'll tell him about Max if he wakes up. She begins to remember her beloved father, Richard Marsh, who had died of stroke in 2014. She cries and then looks at April who says that Max woke up.

The nurse explains not to talk much, because Max was still tired and recovering.

"What happened?" Kate asked.

"I don’t remember anything, just the camera flash, and then everything went dark." Max answered.

Max looks at her daughters and at Kate with tears in his eyes, who are already waiting for the worst. The cancer is getting stronger and she can’t take the pain anymore.

Dr. Dale Rivers enters the room and asks to speak with Max about the next steps, he informs that the team of professionals who has been accompanying Max in the last months will consult her in the next few hours to discuss about death with dignity, if that is still be it Max's decision.

Dr. Dale explains that the exams already done by Max qualify her for assisted death, since the cancer is inoperable and has not regressed with traditional treatment. And also because the cancer spreads day by day, vitiating its functions.

As for his medical position, he would allow Max's assisted death, leaving only the approval of the other team members.

Dr. Dale looked at Max for a few seconds and caught his attentive gaze. The decision for the death was difficult and although it was professional, the doctor had deep empathy for the patients who chose to die.

"Do you have any questions, Max?" The doctor asks, touching Max's arm.

"No Dale, we have reviewed the protocol several times, my decision has been made.” said Max.

During the day Max was taken care of by all the medical staff and was authorized to the procedure, received in an envelope the last pill that would take in her life.

This drug had been developed by the team of the French scientist, Jean Pierre Baptist, along with an American laboratory. The benefit of the medication, painlessly, disrupts the functioning of vital systems, leading to death within minutes.

On leaving the hospital, Dr. Dale greeted Max with a hug and asked if she had already chosen a date to take the medication.

"Tomorrow. 4th of July." Max answered.

Max, Kate, April and May leave the hospital and return home to enjoy Max's last day.

Across the town, Murphy looked happy and unconcerned despite Warren's situation. He was in the restaurant waiting for the beautiful woman he had dated in recent months. He wanted to be loved. He understood her like no one else and even remembered the time in college with Warren.

She arrived at the very beautiful place, leaving Murphy enchanted.

"How are you?" Asked the woman.

"Pretty good, despite the health situation of Warren and Max," Murphy said.

She changes the subject and says she wants to tell him something. She expresses her feelings and says she loves him. After her last partner, she was shaken, but she knew Murphy was different and could count on him.

Murphy is surprised, but at the same time, cheerful. He says he feels the same for her and share a long kiss.

"I love you, Lilith.” said Murphy.

"I love you, Murphy.” Lilith smiles softly as she holds her hand.

Night came, everything seemed quiet. Max lay on the bed where she slept with Warren, she still wants Warren to be there. She think she'll see her parents, Chloe, Joyce, David and William soon. She hugs her daughters and wipes the tears that run down their faces.

"I love you" Max looks at Kate and says "I want you to be happy, for me, we are and we will always be a family."

Kate smiles and wipes the tears from her eyes as she leaves the room with April and May.

The clock strikes three hours and eleven minutes. Max takes the medicine and closes her eyes. She remembers her childhood with Chloe, the first day she met Warren in the Blackwell Academy science class, the day she find out she was pregnant, the birth of April and May. She finally stopped breathing.

Kate is telling a story to April and May in the other room. After a few minutes they fall asleep.

Kate goes to Max's room and checks her already dead body, she calls the funeral home to remove Max's body.

Kate watches the car with Max's body cross the street.

She kneels briefly as the car go away. She returns home and looks at the picture of Max and Warren and lament. She go to the girls' room and watch them sleep.

Kate goes to her room and prays for Warren to wake up and to God keep Max in a safe place. She finally falls asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Two days passed by and the grief of the loss was still terrible, but they felt rewarded for spending more time with Max. The funeral was melancholy, everyone was present, including Kate’s sisters, Murphy, and his girlfriend, Lilith. April and May felt desolate.

After that the month of July was difficult, both for Kate, and for the twins. The family was desolate and Kate only thought of Warren and how difficult it was to take care of April and May alone, but after all this was her dream, to be a mother. Even though they weren’t her daughters of blood, she took care of them as if they were her own.

The month of August arrived and there was still no improvement in Warren's health.

Kate became increasingly worried and distressed when the girls asked if Warren would have the same fate as Max.

She kept saying no, but deep down she knew she couldn’t foresee it.

The school year had begun. On one occasion when she left the girls at school, April and May said goodbye to Kate with a kiss and said:

“Thanks Mom.”

Kate was surprised and said:

"Have a good day, kids.”

Kate headed for the Maynard Center Hospital, went to Warren's room and sat down next to him.

"Do you believe they called me mom?" Kate said.

She explained that the last month has been difficult, but things are starting to get better. She lowers her head and expresses the pain of losing Max and still doesn’t know how she'll say it to Warren.

"I never thought I'd be the mother of such beautiful girls like them, I haven’t felt this feeling since the day Michael..."

She holds Warren's right hand.

“But I need you here, with me, with them... I want to give you a new life, I want us to be happy again, but I need you here with me... please... please, Warren... wake up... don’t die...”

Warren's right hand closes slightly in Kate's hand. She’s surprised and looks at his face again with a tearful, hopeful expression.

She takes a deep breath and finally smiles.


	9. Epilogue

"Hey you." A young woman smiled at Warren who was slightly confused.

"Is it really you?" She gave him a soft smile. Her blue eyes twinkled at her question.

"You're still beautiful," the two of them slowly made their way towards each other before they ran towards the center, catching each other in their embrace.

"I missed you." He started into her eyes and caressed her cheek tenderly as he smiled.

The way she smelled, the way she hugged him, the sound of her voice, the warmth of her hands, the color of her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes, he missed that. Those beautiful eyes that he came to love. It was as if his memories of her began to resurface after years of keeping it locked away in his brain.

"It still hurts you know," Max smiled at him with sadness and tears gathering in her eyes.

"I know. And I'm sorry." The two of them could only relish in each other's embrace.

"You know that I will always love you, right?" Max's smile faltered as she tried to not cry.

"I know." They stayed in each other's embrace for more than a minute before she caressed his bearded face.

"God, I wish I had stayed with you that day." Warren shakes his head and smoothes out his coat.

"What happened that day just happened. It wouldn’t have ended the way we wanted to either way,”. She nods solemnly.

He could feel her heartbeat after all this time. He could finally hold her again and feel the warmth of her skin. He wished that the circumstances were different. He wished everything was different. But this was what it is.

"Remember when I asked you what our dreams would be, what did you say?"

The two stood there in silence before Warren opened his mouth.

"My dream was to get married one day and settle down. Have a family. A few kids. Have some grandchildren and eventually live the best life I could... this dream I started with you, April and May. I suffer every day we can’t still together."

"But we're still together," said Max.

Warren looked down guiltily. Max raised his head and gave him a sad smile.

"Me, you, April, May and Kate"

Warren grabbed her hand from his bearded face. A solitary, furious tear fell on his beard as he began to relax in front of Max.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry..." Warren wailed as she held him in her embrace, soothing him with her touch.

"You don’t have to apologize for falling in love with Kate. I'd rather see you fall in love with her than waste away in the sadness I left you." Max told him as she stared deeply into his eyes.

"Your family needs you. You can’t leave them the way I left you. You need to go back..." She squeezes his hands tightly and gives him a kiss.

"You know you never ended up telling me your dream." Warren smiled softly and laughed.

"You're gonna have to wait until we meet again." Max chuckled.

"And when will that be?"

Max paused before answering, "When your time comes. Which I’m hoping is years from now. "

The two let out a laugh together.

"I'll never forget about you, I promise," Warren said, with tears in his eyes.

She kisses his forehead and looks into his eyes for the last time.

"I know." These were the last words Warren heard before a light blinded him.

Slowly Warren woke up from the dream, looked to the side and saw the photos of Max and Kate near the prosthesis of his left arm on the bedside table.

He takes a deep breath and looks at his familiar room, looks the other way and sees Kate sleeping. He approaches and hugs her with his one arm. She snuggled into his chest in a sweeping manner as if she fit in completely. She awakens slowly and gives him a smile.

Life would never be the same, but they would live the best way they could.

Later that day, Warren and his family made their way through the cemetery holding hands as they talked softly. They stopped in front of a grave stone that was a bit discolored from the numerous seasons it had witnessed. The two adults held each other's hands as the two teenagers retreated to sit next to a bench.

"She should’ve been here with us," Kate said, all choked up. All Warren could do was pull her close and give her a tight hug.

“Was this wrong? Would she be upset?”

Warren stroked Kate's belly that was already showing the sixth month of gestation .

"No. Our love will never be a mistake. She knows we love her as much as she loves us." Warren said.

Kate silently cries into his chest.

"Let's get going, it's getting colder." The two adults looked at the grave and gave a sad smile.

"April! May! Let's go." The family walked back to their car. Her name was engraved onto the tombstone in beautiful cursive.

* * *

 

_Max Caulfield-Graham_

_1995 - 2038_

_"A loving friend, a dear mother and a beloved wife."_

_"We won’t forget about you"_


End file.
